Straw Hats: Their history and manufacture

Ambiguous references to what may have been hats of vegetable materials are to be found in the works of almost all ancient writers, but very little that is specific can be discov...

Prior to this period all kinds of straws, grasses, and fibres of vegetables had been utilized in the operation, the only limit as to material being the growths peculiar to the l...

The foregoing details, mainly devoted to the classical and historical side of straw hat manufacture, have demonstrated that the word “straw” is very elastic in its meaning when...

The previous chapter has dealt with the materials used in plait and the incidental processes necessary to the preparation of the fibres, because plait is undoubtedly at the pres...

Having briefly described the nature of, and method of preparation of various plaits and hoods, some detailed account of the method of working those which have largely contribute...

The dyeing of straw plait in England, done individually for some time on a small scale, commenced as a separate industry about 1845, when a Mr. Randall opened some dyeing works...

The other section of preparatory work for plait is that of Bleaching. The early efforts in this direction were of necessity very crude, and it is probable that imitation of the...

A most important part of the industry is that which actually forms another trade in itself, viz., that of blockmaking. Every shape requires its individual block of wood, iron or...

The earliest methods were, of course, all by hand. Perhaps the first was that described in Chapter II, where the heads of the plait were tucked in one under the other and render...

The general description of the actual sewing of a straw hat, whether by hand or machine, must be followed by the statement that when sewn the hat is invariably in a limp conditi...

The process of “Blocking,” as the next operation in the making of a straw hat is termed, consists of some method, either by hand or machinery, to place the somewhat uncouth look...

The blocking of hats by machinery is a process much more recent in operation than hand work, and although its origin is more or less inside the possibility of a living man’s mem...

The straw hat having now arrived at the stage where its actual manufacture ceases, has still further to undergo the process of embellishment necessary for its proper appearance...

p. 18. “plaits similiar” changed to “plaits similar”. p. 24. “Legat” changed to “Légat”. p. 70. “of a models’” changed to “of a model’s”. p. 78. “the headfit” changed to “the he...